Global Times: From regional specialty to global delicacy, roujiamo bridges cultures, makes Chinese cuisine international

BEIJING, Feb. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In September 2024, a giant billboard featuring the eye-catching slogan "Not China's hamburger, but the world's roujiamo" lit up Times Square in New York. 

Roujiamo - a soft flatbread sliced open, filled with fragrant, tender, and juicy shredded meat, complemented by unique spices and sauces, makes every bite a burst of flavor and satisfaction. For thousands of years, this delicious snack has filled the stomachs and satisfied the taste buds of locals, as well as travelers along the Silk Road.

The history of Shaanxi's roujiamo dates back to the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206B), over 2,000 years ago. During the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and Tang Dynasty (618-907), the production method became more refined, and by the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), roujiamo had evolved further and gained popularity, gradually appearing in streets and alleys, according to the People's Daily.

Today, this delicious Shaanxi snack is reaching out to food lovers across the globe, carving its own place on the international stage. At the same time, through cultivating professional talent to preserve culinary traditions, improving production techniques, and exploring overseas markets, roujiamo has grown into a highly standardized and large-scale industry, with its reach expanding worldwide.

In 2015, the Huffington Post referred to Shaanxi's roujiamo as "the world's first hamburger." 

"We have drawn lessons from the expansion of Western fast food, but we are not simply replicating a Western mode; we are telling Chinese stories in the language of the world," a roujiamo industry staff in Tongguan, Shaanxi Province, where roujiamo was first developed, told the Global Times. 

He believes that the slogan "Not China's hamburger, but the world's roujiamo!" not only demonstrates the cultural confidence of the Chinese people in their traditional cuisine, but also signifies the global ambitions of Chinese food culture. 

Taste of hometown

Chopping vegetables, making soup, stewing meat, and preparing liangpi (cold noodles)… Every morning at 8 am, before the London mist clears, Lara Yan, the manager of 1+1 Rougamo, and her staff begin their daily tasks of preparing roujiamo.

Located near several universities in central London, this roujiamo restaurant has become a "home" for many Chinese students and a "canteen" for local workers nearby. The restaurant's roujiamo, with its crispy outer crust and tender marinated meat filling, has made many customers loyal regulars.

"Some customers from Xi'an have said that our roujiamo's crispy skin and marinated meat are even more authentic than those in their hometown," Yan said. "Initially, the restaurant received mostly Chinese customers, but over time, more and more foreign customers started to learn about and love our roujiamo."

Though the restaurant benefits from competitive pricing and a strategic location, Yan believes the success of their expanded outreach and the high ratings from customers are primarily due to their dedication.

To make the best roujiamo, one of the founders of the restaurant went to Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, to improve his cooking skills and learned authentic Shaanxi techniques from local masters. Over the last six years, the restaurant has expanded from Cambridge to London, gradually allowing more customers to fall in love with Chinese cuisine.

"Our approach is to make costumers feel curious and interested. For example, the most common Chinese meat cuisine's flavor here is sweet and sour, but we know that Chinese cuisine is much more diverse. It's hard to introduce all our food, so we chose to use roujiamo as a way to challenge their general perception," Yan told the Global Times. 

However, Yan does not rigidly stick to tradition. "We strive to restore the most authentic flavors, but we've also introduced variations, such as duck meat roujiamo and vegetarian versions, to cater to local tastes, so more people can enjoy this dish," she introduced. 

"Dining is not just about filling your stomach, it's also a way of transmitting culture and emotions," Yan noted while sharing her culinary philosophy.

In order to ensure the freshness of ingredients, Yan and her staff begin their long preparations early each morning, especially for slow-cooked dishes like soups and liangpi. "Lunch hours are the busiest. Although dinner sees fewer customers, the shop is still filled with the happy chatter of customers until we close at 9 pm," Yan said.

Yan believes that roujiamo is not just a traditional Chinese dish, it has become a "global cultural symbol." To attract more customers, this year, they built a giant roujiamo with golden crispy skin and juicy meat in front of the restaurant, becoming a striking feature of the alley.

In fact, roujiamo restaurants have become popular all over the world. In the US, this fast-food dish, which is both filling and full of flavor, is loved by many.

Eric Lee, a regular at Xi'an Famous Foods, a well-known roujiamo chain in the US, commented on Google Maps: "I got great memories of this restaurant all over New York, definitely delicious. Always go spicy for everything!"

After launching successfully in Canada, Chinese fast-food chain Bingz, which specializes in roujiamo, also set foot in the US in 2023. There are always long lines outside the store, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

'Burger' with long history

With the expansion of roujiamo stores across the world, the snack has not only become a name card for Chinese food among global eaters, but also a bridge that connects China's Guanzhong Plain with the world. 

However, what is unknown to many is that, roujiamo, a delicacy with a history of more than 2,200 years, is a result of and testament to cultural interaction from the very beginning.

Legend has it that during a military campaign in Tongguan, Emperor Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty tasted Tongguan roujiamo and praised the dish repeatedly, largely boosting its popularity.

According to materials provided by the Tongguan county government, the origin of mo, the layered flatbread used in the Tongguan roujiamo, is believed to be from hubing, introduced by Chinese diplomat Ban Chao during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE).

Tongguan people later refined the recipe into the crisp and multi-layered mo known today.

Over the centuries since then, ethnic integration and culinary experimentation in the region has refined the dish into a uniquely flavorful masterpiece. Along with the development of industrialization in China, the branding and standardizing of Tongguan roujiamo is also accelerating. The food has gradually stepped out of the region and captured the taste buds of more people, becoming a powerful engine for the local economy and rural revitalization.   

According to the Tongguan county government, so far, there are more than 20,000 Tongguan roujiamo restaurants across China, creating jobs for about 100,000 people. Thirteen roujiamo factories with 40 production lines have been established in Tongguan county alone, which are collectively able to churn out two million frozen mo daily and generate annual revenues exceeding one billion yuan ($138 million).  

Tongguan roujiamo also started to explore overseas market in 2018. Now, the locally manufactured flatbread has been exported to 17 countries and regions including the US, the UK, and Australia, according to the county government.  

In Tongguan, the local government has established a roujiamo association to organize local roujiamo production enterprises to participate in large-scale business activities. Supportive policies have also been laid out to provide startups with assistance in technical training and innovation. In 2024 alone, more than 800 training activities in skills and entrepreneurship were provided, according to the local government.

Local manufacturers have also made great strides in the research of production technologies, especially in terms of how to preserve the authenticity of mo while scaling production. Mo is the key to the good taste of Tongguan roujiamo. 

"In the beginning, the types of flour used in different processing factories varied. Then, we worked with universities and scientific research institutions to select a custom flour that was most suitable in terms of hardness and toughness," said Wang Huafeng, president of the Tongguan Roujiamo Association. 

According to Wang, with continuous improvement of the production process, the standardization level of mo is getting even higher. The frozen mo sold on the market is now sealed in ultra-clean packaging by -18 C storage technology. Its flavor can be restored by more than 90 percent after heating anywhere in the world.

Innovation and compatibility

Historically, Shaanxi was a crossroad of cultures, where different traditions and ideas seamlessly blended. People in this region have always been known for their spirit of innovation and inclusivity. The ancient capital of Xi'an, once the starting point of the Silk Road, was a vibrant melting pot, where East met West and diverse cultures and cuisines converged, shaping the rich cultural heritage of the region.

Today, roujiamo continues to evolve through innovation, satisfying more palates and attracting more food lovers. From the savory and spicy steamed pork with lotus leaf bread, to the tender and chewy cured beef roujiamo with the signature soft flatbread, each variation brings its own unique flavor.

In addition to roujiamo, other traditional Chinese snacks have also gained international attention in recent years. For example, jianbing guozi (Chinese crepes) has made its way to global food scenes, with food trucks serving this savory, crispy snack in cities across the world. Similarly, tanghulu (candied hawthorn skewers), with its sweet and sour flavor, has captured the curiosity of international food lovers.

These snacks, much like roujiamo, are no longer confined to local markets - they are now part of the growing wave of Chinese street food culture that's spreading across borders.

Today, in order to take roujiamo further across the world, people are still making more plans.

After opening two stores overseas in 2024 - one in Zaragoza, Spain, and another in Bangkok, Thailand - Wang is now busy with promoting the establishment of more Tongguan roujiamo chain stores overseas.  

In London, Yan believes that with the growing popularity of roujiamo worldwide, more international customers will become eager to learn about China's rich food culture.

"When we met in Cambridge, we said we wanted to make this brand a century-old restaurant. Now, we're only 94 years away from becoming one. Isn't that a great improvement?" Yan smiled. Her goal is to make her restaurant one of the representatives of Chinese cuisine in the UK.

"Dining is an art of constant learning. Every day is full of challenges, but the most important thing is to stay true to our original aspiration and focus on making every dish well," she said.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202502/1327890.shtml 

SOURCE Global Times